Last week we were confronted by rumours, that have subsequently been confirmed from multiple sources, that Celtic were lowballing Martin O’Neill’s two coaches. This was perceived, by myself included, as the most Celtic thing possible.

Penny pinching over deals for Maloney and Fotheringham after they’ve just delivered the most unlikely double in decades with a squad so thin it would get bullied by the school nerd.

O’Neill is in the Clough model of management. He stays apart from the players to keep a distance from them. This means that psychologically the players will work harder to seek his approval. It’s almost instinctive to do so with any slightly distant father figure, especially one who holds your future in his hands.

It is the assistants therefore who take on the day-to-day management and coaching of the squad. Who deal with training, tactics, squabbles and grievances. It is Martin’s job to arrive as the authority figure. To set the tone and build relationships. To make it clear that he is the final word on complaints or issues. Bestowing generous praise on those that deliver in training and games. Ruthlessly excluding those who aren’t delivering, either by lack of form or ability.

The Winners Take it All

We saw it happen in real time. Take Hatate and big Balik fae Wisha on the one hand. Saracchi and Scales on the other. They are not the only examples. The longer Martin was in the door, the more uncompromising his decision making became. Those who could not be trusted were discarded faster than you could say “The next manager will step in. Play him. And find out that he could be the best. This is the point. I have made that point to him,” as he did to the Congolese international, before signing a permanent contract and becoming that next manager!

When it comes to players and managers though, there will always be winners and losers. There are already obvious cases in the squad of who has gained the manager’s trust. Unfortunately for Martin many of that core group that you’d want to retain, if possible, have uncertain futures.

Thanks to the World Cup shop window, we cannot be certain of any of the participants remaining with Celtic. Of the eight, Benjamin Nygren, Daizen Maeda, Sebastian Tounekti, Yang, Alistair Johnston, Auston Trusty, Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston, it’s almost certain that Maeda will be leaving. Nygren and Johnston are ‘at risk’ and Trusty is a few good showings away from sharing that status.

That’s before we start talking about moving out the dead wood and returning the loan players. Or the likely move for Engels and the uncertainty over McGregor’s motivation. Especially given his earlier statement, essentially mirroring Brendan’s previous thoughts questioning the club’s ambition. Nobody would blame such a committed servant for taking a final pay day in the middle east, especially when there is no evidence of the board changing behaviour or being in any way equal to the challenge of this transfer window and the seasons ahead.

It’s A Jungle Out There

So, rather than starting his second permanent stint on solid footing, Martin finds himself navigating a swamp with quicksand everywhere. The wrong steps could see his chances of success suffocated, before we ever see light breaking through the gloom and a sure path ahead.

One must ask therefore, has Martin made his first bold choices?

Although he has been attributed with an almost miraculous ability to win, he frequently expressed frustration with our performances. The football itself was extremely poor for large parts of the majority of games. It seemed like a mish mash of a direct approach and the possession-based style of Rodgers.

The coaches were not Martin’s first choice. This was an all hands-on deck emergency and Martin was familiar with them both. However, being in the building like Maloney, or unemployed like Fotheringham, were most likely the defining factors in their hurried appointments.

Martin’s decision to sign his deal without an agreement on the future of the men he worked so closely with, certainly looks like their ongoing participation as part of his team is not something he was overly concerned about.

Ange came by himself and fulfilled the role of manager and head coach. He was confident that he could get his message across effectively to the incumbent coaches and players. Martin is not Ange. Their attributes are very different. For a non-coaching, old school manager like Martin, his coaching team are absolutely essential.

Does he believe that Maloney and Fotheringham are the men to impart and enforce his vision on a squad who have seemed far too comfortable playing a particular, and increasingly ineffective, style? If so, I don’t think there’s any doubt that he would have ensured their futures were guaranteed before he took the reins once more.

We know he favours more direct, more physical, less possession-based football. In fact, this is the trend globally. Like your disco flares, if you wait long enough, everything comes back into fashion!

We also know that neither Maloney nor Fotheringham played that way during their management tenures. Did this disagreement manifest in such a way that Martin has decided that he must make an immediate change?

Martin The Miner

Seemingly out of the blue, we suddenly hear the name of Efraín Juárez being bandied about. In fact, the former Celt would have been on the radar of Mark Cooper. Celtic’s scout who specialises in South America and has previously recommended the likes of Bernabei. By all accounts the Mexican implements an adaptable, attacking-focused style of play that emphasizes tactical flexibility.

His six years as an assistant manager and manager, have included a league and cup double in the unpredictable Colombian competitions. He has a very good reputation as an up-and-coming coach. He is also known to have a fiery and passionate temperament.

Is this an attempt to kill two birds with one stone? Give Martin a coach whose style is more compatible with his own. A coach who also has a more dominant personality. Less of a friend to the players. A man who can enforce Martin’s style of play on a hesitant squad, with a preference for the comfort zone and the resistance to change that is almost natural when a new challenge presents itself?

Fotheringham lacks the elite experience to step up at this stage and is not a serious candidate for the top job. Maloney could have been a (poor) choice, however he has also been described by former colleagues as being a lovely fella, but entirely lacking the ‘minerals’ to make it as a manager.

Given his choice of the pathway manager job to give himself a break from coaching, it could be that Shaun acknowledges that assessment, even subconsciously, after some challenging times. With Martin’s short-term situation, the ideal scenario here is that Celtic have a manager in waiting, benefiting from the experience and tutelage of a legend.

This is a massive job, even more so this year when many new players and a new style must be integrated. Whatever the abilities and characteristics of the manager in waiting, the one thing he must not be lacking is ‘minerals’.